1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electronic device connecter apparatus and more particularly to a mounting arrangement for the orthogonal mounting of an electronic display device to a printed circuit board.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Because early applications of electronic devices such as light-emitting diodes (LED) and dual-in-line packaged (DIP) devices involved a horizontally mounting of the device to a printed circuit board, and available panel area and component density were not critical, the manufacturers of such devices adapted them for horizontal mounting by placing the lead pins in rows along opposite edges of the bottom surfaces of the device. As board densities and types of applications have increased, some applications have demonstrated that the horizontal mounting of device to board should be reconsidered. This is particularly true in cases where LED-indicating devices are used in instrumentation circuits and the like designed for plural instrument panels. For such applications it has become apparent that in order to conserve panel area, the supporting electronic circuitry must be mounted on boards extending normal to the panel face and the actual indicator devices must be mounted with their indicating face lying normal to the board. In order to use currently available LEDs, for example, a narrow second board for carrying the LEDs is attached to the forward edge of the primary circuit board and is mounted normal thereto. However, in order to establish good plugable interconnection between circuit boards, great precision must be exercised in the manner of connection of the two boards. This, of course, adds to the overall cost of the device over and above the added cost of providing the second board. Another disadvantage of this approach is that in most cases where the primary board layout must be changed, a redesign of the secondary board is also required.
Although it would appear to be a simple matter to change the lead frame structure of the LED or electronic device in order to make it mountable in the vertical position, it turns out that not only would the manufacturer have to undergo substantial tooling expenses in order to make a conversion of the device itself, but the assembly lines of device users would have to likewise be modified thereby causing an industry capital expenditure of enormous sums of money.